Dryer appliances generally include a cabinet with a drum rotatably mounted therein. A motor can selectively rotate the drum during operation of the dryer appliance, e.g., to tumble articles located within a chamber defined by the drum. Dryer appliances also generally include a heater assembly that passes heated air through the chamber of the drum in order to dry moisture laden articles disposed within the chamber. To circulate heated air, the dryer appliance can include an impeller. The impeller can be rotated by the motor that also rotates the drum.
During operation of the dryer appliance, the impeller can urge a flow of heated air into the chamber of the drum. Such heated air can absorb moisture from articles disposed within the chamber. In turn, the impeller can urge moisture laden air out of the chamber through a vent. The vent can be connected to household ductwork that directs the moisture laden air outdoors.
Performance of a dryer appliance can be affected by the flow of heated air. For example, dryer appliance performance can be improved by generating a large volume of heated air. Conversely, dryer appliance performance can be negatively affected if the heating assembly generates a low volume of heated air.
To improve dryer performance, a size of the impeller can be increased. However, space with a dryer appliance is generally limited or constrained. Thus, increasing a size of the impeller can be difficult. To improve dryer performance, certain dryer appliances include a second motor configured to rotate the impeller. Thus, the second motor rotates the impeller rather than the motor that rotates the drum. However, motors can be expensive, and adding the second motor to the dryer appliance can increase the cost of the dryer appliance.
Accordingly, a dryer appliance with features for improving air flow through the dryer appliance would be useful. In particular, a dryer appliance with features for improving air flow through the dryer appliance without requiring a relatively large impeller or adding a second motor to the dryer appliance would be useful.